


The Oyre Effect: Part Two: Solidity

by roboemma



Series: The Oyre Effect [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4294062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roboemma/pseuds/roboemma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Oyre Effect tells the story of ARC trooper A-14 “Ando,” and the exploits of an enigmatic Mandalorian slicer, Vhe’dn Oyre, in the lives of him and his brothers. When Ando is assigned to the protection of a refugee camp, things are complicated by the arrival of his inconvenient Mandalorian friend. All original characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If you like Mandos, clone OCs, carousing adventure, witty backchat, and shameless romance, you may enjoy this story! :) It was actually originally written in 2009, and recently edited; I was pretty young when I first wrote Parts 1 through 3, and it was my first lengthy writing endeavor, so you can definitely see an improvement in quality as time goes on. I am trying to get it reposted to a couple places, so that I can finally finish out the story (currently writing Part 4) as intended. I adore these characters. Enjoy!
> 
> I should note, this story consists ONLY of original characters. I tend to adhere strictly to canon, and avoid AU at all costs; my characters don't interact with the galaxy in a way that negates the possibility of their existence, so this story should read as though these characters could fit pretty seamless into the background events of things; canon characters will only ever be mentioned in a second-hand, passing reference sort of way. Just so you know!

Character Bios:

Vhe'dn Oyre (FAY-dn oh-YAY-er)  
Age: 18 years  
Height: 5' 2"  
Sex: Female  
Homeworld: Corellia  
Current Residence: Coruscant  
Species: Zabrak  
Affiliations: The Mandalorians

A-14, Ando (AN-doh)  
Age: 11 years (physically 22)  
Height: 6'  
Sex: Male  
Homeworld: Kamino  
Species: Human Clone  
Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army  
Rank: Advanced Recon Commando (Lieutenant)  
Status: Deployed

A-70, Sevets (SEHV-ehts)  
Age: 11 years (physically 22)  
Height: 6'  
Sex: Male  
Homeworld: Kamino  
Species: Human Clone  
Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army  
Rank: Advanced Recon Commando (Commander)  
Status: Deployed

-CT-4/309, Damper (DAM-per)  
Age: 11 years (physically 22)  
Height: 6'  
Sex: Male  
Homeworld: Kamino  
Species: Human Clone  
Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army  
Rank: Pilot  
Status: Deployed

-Kael-Shei Aa (KAYL-shay ah)  
Age: 35 years  
Height: 5’ 10”  
Sex: Male  
Homeworld: Telos IV  
Species: Echani/Human  
Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army, The Jedi Order  
Rank: Jedi Knight, GAR General  
Status: Deployed

-Anon Ilia (Anuhn EE-lee-uh)  
Age: 14 years  
Height: 5’ 5”  
Sex: Female  
Homeworld: Nar Shaddaa  
Species: Zabrak  
Affiliations: The Republic Grand Army, The Jedi Order  
Rank: Jedi padawan, GAR Commander  
Status: Deployed

\--------------------------------------------------------------

_Three months since the events that took place on the unnamed moon, approx. 1.75 ABG, ARC Lieutenant A-14 “Ando” finds himself assigned to the protection of a remote refugee camp, stationed in the middle of a mostly barren dust bowl on a moon of the planet Circ... the camp consists of mostly rural farmers, displaced by the Separatists, accustomed to the hardships of the place they call home... though they are a hardy sort of people, they are no match against the Separatist’s forces alone...currently, Ando finds himself thrust into the middle of a struggle..._

 

_“Crush him!”_

_“Break his arm!”_

_“Grrrr...”_

_“Rrrrr...!”_

“Hey, Ando!” Damper yelled cheerfully, clamping his hands down onto Ando’s shoulders, startling him.

Ando yelped as his arm was slammed down to the table in his moment of distraction. The man across from him, a refugee farmer, stood triumphant, soaking in the cheers of his peers as the winner of their arm wrestling contest.

Ando spun around to face Damper, who was laughing at Ando’s misfortune. Ando brought a fist up.

“Damper, I swear...” he threatened, then trailed off as Damper’s laughter crescendoed louder; he couldn’t help but start laughing, too. Ando turned back around to meet his opponent, a burly looking man who couldn’t help but have a kind face. They shook hands.

“You people are as strong as you look,” Ando commended.

“That we are,” the man confirmed. He smiled and jerked his head at Damper. “Though, I’m sure you would have done better if you didn’t have that growth on your shoulder.”

The group of men and women burst into laughter.

“Hey!” Damper cried, indignant. He came up and threw a brotherly arm around Ando’s neck. “He’s _my_ sidekick, not the other way around!”

Ando shoved him off, chuckling.

“Fat chance, idiot,” he hissed.

The crowd began to disperse. Damper pulled Ando to the side.

“Come on.” Damper jerked a thumb over his shoulder, a goofy grin still on his face. “I’ve got something to show you.”

Ando knew Damper well enough to know that he was being relatively serious. He fell into step beside him, calmly following him out of the perimeter of the camp. He slipped his helmet on, Damper doing the same.

“What is it?” Ando asked him.

“You’ll see,” Damper murmured.

Their footsteps puffed up little clouds of rust-colored dirt; Ando’s armor was the same color as the earth around them up to his knees. The amount of grit and sheer absence of water on this moon was astonishing, especially to someone having grown up on such a planet as Kamino. Ando figured it took a stubborn sort of people to remain on a moon like this, toiling to barely survive. Maybe it was about loyalty; he could understand that.

Damper kicked a lump of dirt over onto Ando’s boot. Ando shook it off and scuffed some over at Damper in return. Damper leapt back and fell into a defensive stance, hands out at him.

“Come on,” he joked in mock challenge. “You want to settle this?”

Ando grinned behind his visor and fell into a similar stance, weight on his haunches. They paced in a circle around each other.

“Show me that thing you were before,” Damper said. He swung at him and Ando blocked it almost effortlessly, then reposed and blocked another of Damper’s return attacks.

“What,” Ando feigned ignorance, _“this?”_

Ando grabbed Damper by the wrist and yanked him around so he could flip him over his shoulder. Damper shouted in protest, flailing, and Ando almost lost his balance as he went to throw him. He felt his helmet ripped off his head as Damper flew over his shoulder and onto the ground with a muted _oof!_ Ando fell down to his knees to absorb the unintended momentum. Damper was scrambling to get up before him.

“Got to learn to fight dirty, Ando,” Damper exhaled as he flew at him and caught him around the waist right as Ando moved to stand. They fell back to the ground, each struggling to gain the upper hand. “Those fancy ARC dances can’t help you all the time!”

“You’d like to think, Damper,” Ando puffed, rolling around and pinning him with his knee. “You’re a blasted _pilot._ ”

Damper coughed, trying with all his might to free his arms.

“Is this what you wanted to show me?” Ando laughed.

“All right, all right, I give!” Damper gasped. Ando released him and stood. Damper rolled around to his knees, taking deep breaths. Ando offered him a hand and Damper grudgingly took it.

“You just wait, Ando, you’ll get yours.”

“Mhm.” Ando rolled his eyes. He went to pick up his helmet, slipping it back over his head. “You going to show me what you dragged me out here for now, or what?”

“Yeah, yeah, come on.”

They made their way further away from the refugee camp and out toward the ravine that cut a scar in the valley next to it. Damper led him all the way to the edge. Ando looked over it.

“Okay, so you’ve brought me here to kill me and dispose of the body,” Ando concluded. “I always knew the day would come that you’d think you’d outgrown me.”

Damper elbowed him playfully. “Race you to the bottom.”

Ando looked over at him. “Seriously?”

“No, not _seriously_ , who do you think I am?”

“Damper, that’s _exactly_ what you would do.”

“That aside, I really do have something to show you, it’s just _down there_.” Damper pointed down into the ravine.

Ando followed where he was pointing.

“Did you tell Sevets we would be here?” he asked him.

“No,” came Damper’s reply.

Ando nodded. “Let’s hurry, then.”

After making sure that their lines were secure, Ando followed Damper in rappelling down into the ravine.

“So I take it you found something?” Ando called down to him. “Can I ask what you were doing down here in the first place?”

“Do I ever have a reason?”

“Well, I figure there must be some sort of flawed logic to what you do...”

Damper laughed.

Ando was thankful for the shadow that fell over them, cast by the adjacent cliff wall. The sun here was relentless during the day. He heard Damper’s feet connect with a solid outcropping.

“Right here, Ando,” he said.

Ando slid down and landed next to him. It was cramped.

“Quaint,” he assessed.

Damper ignored him and reached under another outcrop. He pulled out a bag that had been hidden there, and Ando suddenly grew very serious.

“That’s not yours?” he asked Damper.

Damper shook his head in an affirmative _no_.

“It gets worse,” Damper said. “Look what’s inside it.”

Slowly, Damper unzipped the bag and dumped the contents over onto the rock.

For a moment, Ando looked them over with an unfamiliar scrutiny, then recognition hit him like a punch in the gut.

He was staring at a murky purple jumpsuit and black gauntlets. One had a menagerie of wires and cords wound up around it.

Ando forced himself to inhale.

“Gauntlets,” Damper stated, unable to see Ando’s shock behind his helmet. “Mandalorian in style, I’d say.”

Ando still said nothing, instead just staring hard down at the items at his feet.

“Ando?” Damper queried. “You in there?”

Ando shook himself and looked up at Damper’s t-visor.

“Fine,” he stuttered. “I’m fine.”

Ando shifted and nudged the items with his boot. He bent and began to shove them back into the bag. Damper squatted beside him.

“Think it’s as bad at it seems?” Damper asked.

“If we’ve got Mandalorians, _yes_ it’s that bad,” Ando said distractedly. _Who was he kidding_ , that wasn’t what he was worried about at all.

“Figured it was best to tell you before Sevets,” Damper said. “We should go let him kn-”

“No!” Ando snapped, far too quickly. He could practically feel Damper raising an eyebrow at him.

“No,” Ando stated, with far more restraint. “We don’t need to worry him about it yet.”

“Ando, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“Just trust me, okay?” Ando said impatiently, and probably harsher than he should have.

Damper was silent for a moment, and Ando could tell he disapproved.

“...All right, Ando. I’ll trust you. But unless it’s some ARC business I’m not supposed to know about, you’d better tell me what’s going on,” Damper stated, very seriously.

“Of course,” Ando breathed. “Just, not right now. Let’s get back to camp.”

“You got it, Lieutenant.”

As Ando climbed back up the rappel line, he felt his shock begin to fade slightly. He never thought that he’d ever see those gauntlets again, especially not the person in them. Was she here?

He scrounged up the name from his memory. _Vhe’dn_. He said her name in his mind.

Why had he forgotten so easily?


	2. Chapter 2

Ando and Damper walked back to the camp in silence. Ando felt something close to guilt for snapping at Damper, but... he was distracted.

_More_ than distracted. He had to be crazy. Maybe they weren’t her gauntlets? Maybe he had just imagined their similarity. How long had it been since that mission? Three standard months? He could have forgotten.

Ando shook his head. No; ridiculous. He had excellent memory. Mistaken them, then? He took a deep breath and decided that that was it: for some daft reason he had _wanted_ them to be her gauntlets, so he’d focused only on the details he’d wanted to see. That left him with the issue of who they belonged to and what they were doing there. If there _were_ Mandalorians here, it meant real trouble.

But why would the Separatists send elite, assuredly expensive warriors to bully an insignificant refugee camp? It had no military significance besides a General. They had already displaced the people from their homes.

They arrived at the entrance of the camp.

“Ando, I haven’t seen you this tense since I took you wave skipping back home on Kamino,” Damper commented. Ando looked over at him, forcing himself to relax his muscles.

“I’m not tense,” he said.

“Of course you’re not,” Damper deadpanned.

Ando grimaced, then looked up at the watch post. He waved to the trooper at the top, sifting through comlink channels.

“That you, Fours?” he asked.

“ _No, sir, this is Patch_ ,” came the reply. “ _Standby._ ”

The large metal door began to slide upwards, throwing dust into the air. They ducked under it and it closed swiftly behind them. Damper took off his helmet. Farmers ambled around the camp between the tents and the armored troopers, as if searching for ways to be of use. Of course; these people were used to working, to taking care of themselves. They were used to being self-reliant. Here, they had little to do, and little to keep their minds off their misfortune.

Ando wondered what it was like to lose a home; he had no frame of reference. He bunked wherever he was sent and was grateful every time he had the luxury of sleeping in an actual bed.

His sight brought him to a group of refugees. A half ring was forming around one of them, the group enthralled by a story being told. The crowd shifted and Ando’s eyes fell on a slight, dark-haired farm girl. She turned her head and Ando caught a glance of her face. There was a beat, then he gasped, grabbing Damper by his armor.

“Ando…?” Damper queried. Ando hauled him bodily behind a stack of supply crates.

“What’s going on?” Damper demanded, stumbling to the ground beside him. Ando released him, looked around the edge of the crates, then turned back around, his back against the metal, shocked.

“That’s _her_ ,” he hissed.

Damper narrowed his eyes in confusion. Ando growled in panicked frustration.

“That’s _her_ , that’s the girl!” he hissed again, words tumbling out in a rushed flurry.

Damper put his hands up. “Okay, okay, okay, slow down,” he whispered back. “What the _hell_ are you talking about?”

“ _That_ girl, _that’s_ the Mandalorian girl,” Ando babbled. “And those were her gauntlets!” He put his hands over the visor of his helmet and groaned.

“What?” Damper hissed. “We have Mandalorians _infiltrating the camp?_ ”

Ando looked over at him, and Damper’s eyes suddenly widened.

“Wait,” Damper said. “You mean- that’s _her? The_ Mandalorian, from months ago? That’s her? _The_ girl?”

“Yeah.”

Damper stared at him, mouth open slightly. “This is bad. We’ve got to get Sevets.”

“No!” Ando hauled him back down to the ground as he tried to get up. “No.”

“What if she’s a spy, Ando, are you _crazy?_ ” Damper snarled, gesturing widely.

“Yes- no! I mean, she’s not!” Ando stumbled over his words and emotions. “I just... look, she’s not.”

Damper shook his head in disbelief, then reached out and grabbed Ando by the shoulder pauldron. He shook him.

“Ando, if you can identify that girl as the owner of that armor, then that means they’ve infiltrated the camp. There could be more of them. She’s worked with the Seps before. Is it seriously the same girl?”

“Yes, it’s her. Damper, she _helped me_. I don’t understand.”

“Well, I do! What the hell are you sitting on the ground for? Get up and arrest her, we’ve got to get these people-”

“I need to see for myself!” Ando interrupted. Damper relented. “I need to talk to her. There’s no reason to raise alarms if I’m not sure.”

“Don’t ask me to keep this a secret, Ando. You know you have the authority to do that, and it’s _wrong_ ,” Damper said, very seriously.

Ando just stared at him grimly through his visor. Damper laughed nervously.

“Damper-” Ando began.

Damper laughed again, bringing a hand up, indicating for him to stop.

“ _Damper_ , I’ve helped you with crazier things,” Ando pressed on.

“Ando, don’t say it. You _know_ I can’t say no to you.”

“Please don’t tell Sevets. Not yet.”

Damper hung his head, chuckling. He looked back up at him, sobered, and swatted him hard on the helmet.

“You got it, Lieutenant.” Damper smirked. “Take care of this business, though. I can’t keep quiet forever.”

“Thank you, Damper,” Ando whispered.

“Oh, shut up. Just go, will you?”

Ando took a deep breath, collecting himself, then stood. He walked straight for the girl; the crowd had dispersed, but she wasn’t looking his direction. He didn’t stop when he got to her, instead grabbing her by the upper arm and hauling her away from her perch atop a box. She protested quietly, stumbling along, but he didn’t look back at her. Her led her straight into his tent and pulled her around to in front of him, releasing her. He yanked his helmet off.

_“What are you doing here?”_ he burst.

A large, distracted grin just spread over Vhe’dn Oyre’s face. _Oh_ , and it was _her_. She was dressed incongruously as a farmer, but there was no mistaking her face, her smile, her presence.

“Your scars...” Vhe’dn breathed, looking over his face. She met his eyes. “You healed well.”

It took Ando a few moments to process what she had said; he had been expecting a direct answer to his question. He scoffed disbelievingly, shifting his stance and gesturing angrily at her.

“Okay, I don’t know if you’re lost, or what,” Ando began. His voice dropped to a hiss, _“but you need to get out of here!”_

Vhe’dn backed up to the table behind her and slid up onto it, her legs dangling over the side.

“Why?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. The side of her mouth twitched upward. “I’m a refugee; I have nowhere to go.”

“No, no, no, no,” Ando spoke in breathy little laughs, wagging a finger. “None of that flippancy thing.”

“What flippancy thing?” Vhe’dn feigned ignorance.

Ando set his helmet to the side, tripping over what to say. “That- _thing_ you do when you’re trying to ignore what I’m saying.”

“I’m not doing anything,” Vhe’dn replied innocently.

Ando covered his face with his hands and groaned loudly into his gloves.

“What am I going to _do_ , this is so bad...” he moaned. He was suddenly aware of Vhe’dn giggling at him. He uncovered his face and instructed angrily, “Don’t test my patience; I don’t know what you’re doing here, but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, on account of… whatever happened months ago, but you just showed up in a war zone. _Again._ Now, _what_ are you doing here?”

“Working on my tan,” Vhe’dn lifted an arm and rubbed it admiringly. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“ _Vhe’dn!_ ”

Vhe’dn slammed her hands down onto the table on either side of her in frustration.

“Ando, do I need a military explanation for _visiting you?_ ” she exclaimed.

“No!” Ando pointed a threatening finger at her. “This is not a visit! This is insane! Do you realize what the commander would do if he knew who you were?”

Vhe’dn raised a casual eyebrow at him. “How’s he going to find out? _You’re_ not going to tell him, are you?”

Ando shifted, feeling cornered.

“Fierfek, Vhe’dn, it’s been _three months_ and you all of a sudden show up in a Republic safe camp?” He shook his head. “Are you in _disguise?_ ”

“Well, obviously that’s the only way I could get in,” Vhe’dn said matter-of-factly.

Ando laughed disbelievingly. “Is this another job?”

“Of course it’s not a job.”

“If you get caught, _that’s_ what they’ll assume,” Ando stated. “It’s what _I_ should assume. Honestly, I don’t exactly want to see you killed on the spot, seeing as how you _did_ help me.”

“Touching,” she deadpanned.

Ando felt instantly foolish; she _still_ had that frustrating effect, he noted.

“Vhe’dn-” he tried to recover.

“Ando, would you calm down and stop treating me like a war criminal?” Vhe’dn interrupted him. “You’ve pretty obviously already made up your mind about my _perfectly noble_ intentions, so drop the tough guy act; it’s not working. I’m not going to get caught.”

Ando nodded.

“Damn right you’re not; you’re leaving,” he stated, and moved for her.

Vhe’dn shifted back on the table slightly, narrowing her eyes at him. “I’m not. I’m visiting you.”

“You’re not ‘visiting.’ We’re not ‘friends,’ we don’t, ‘visit’-” He reached for her.

Vhe’dn batted his hand away as if it were an annoying insect.

He kept at it. “You owe me more than the run-around explanation-”

Ando paused as Vhe’dn reached up and placed her fingers centimeters from his mouth.

She then surprised him by springing up and throwing her arms around his neck. Ando flinched, then stood still for a moment, hair prickling; he then hesitantly lowered his arms over her shoulders, awkwardly returning the hug. She smelled faintly of caf.

He had accepted long ago that he was never going to see her again, and now she had suddenly crashed very rapidly back into his life.

“I missed you, too, Ando,” Vhe’dn grumbled, her voice muffled by his neck.

Ando sighed discontentedly.

“Don’t think we’re finished,” he murmured, unsure of how to respond.


End file.
